Seeking to secure attractively-priced LNG for its power plant fleet, Thailand’s state-run Electricity Generating Authority (EGAT) has announced it will hold a bidding round in May and June. To qualify, interested bidders need to register by April 18. EGAT will then shortlist participants for the first auction in early May.

Renewable generation in the United States has nearly doubled over the past ten years, reaching a new record of 742 million MWh of electricity, or 17.9% of the total U.S. power supply. Amid a steep drop in construction costs, the contribution of wind and solar surged to nearly 90% installed renewable capacity, and the IEA anticipates more capacity additions in the near-term future.

U.S. gas pipeline operator Williams and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) have set up a US$3.8 billion joint venture that centers around Williams' Ohio Valley Midstream (OVM) and Utica East Ohio (UEO) Midstream systems. CPPIB agreed to invest about $1.34 billion for a 35% ownership stake in the joint venture, while William will retain the majority stake.

Investment in wind power is largely driven by China, where removal of regulatory restrictions in the country's northern provinces sparked a 2 GW, or 37%, rise in 2018 to a total installed capacity of 5.6 GW. Worldwide, nearly 52.2 GW of net wind power capacity was added last year – a 4% annual rise, according to Wood Mackenzie’s Global Wind Power Market Outlook Update: Q1-2019.

Fitch Group affiliate BMI Research expects natural gas will contribute more than half of the UK’s electricity needs in less than 10 years, up from currently about 45%. Gas gains importance in the UK power sector amid Government policies to exit coal power by 2025, and as private investors cancelled some new nuclear power projects.

Aspiring full electrification by 2030, the Government of Myanmar has vowed to fast-track several gas-fired power projects as it aims to add some 3,000 MW to effectively double the country’s installed capacity over the next two to three years. Realizing this plan comes with a price tag of $5.16 billion, according to estimates by Myanmar’s Ministry of Electricity and Energy (MOEE).

Global CO2 intensity has decoupled from electricity demand growth since the mid-2010s, and this trend intensified when China and other major Asian economies started to turn their back on coal use for power generation, while falling costs for wind and solar PV made clean energy more attractive.

The South African arm of AEP Energy is about to purchase two power plants in Nairobi from Iberafrica and considers converting these units from diesel to natural gas. In Kenya, diesel-generated electricity is about 3 times costlier than geothermal, wind and hydropower and about 2.5 times more expensive than gas power.

Length in natural gas supply the U.S. Mid-Atlantic and Ohio region is building up amid rising production from the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Simultaneously, growing demand in the South Central region for feed-gas for LNG export facilities on the Gulf Coast has caused a reversal in gas flows on key interstate pipelines.

Latest earnings calls from publicly-traded U.S. gas producers show a slowdown in 2019 gas production as the role of private producers increase. The 25 firms sampled by Energy Aspects have a combined base output of 23.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d), and said they expect 1.3 bcf/d annual production gains in 2019. This projected 6% uplift is less than their earlier growth 9% forecast.

Spain’s gas network operator Enagás has agreed to pay $590 million for a 10.93% ownership interest in Tallgrass Energy (TGE), the operator of several U.S. interstate pipelines. To finance the deal, Enagás partnered with the private equity firm Blackstone and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.

As the second wave of the US shale revolution unfolds, the United States is forecast to account for 70% of the rise in global oil production and some 75% of the expansion in LNG trade over the next five years. On global oil markets, the U.S. has “essentially compensated for recent production shortfalls in Venezuela and Iran,“ commented Dr Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

State-owned utility Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) has signed two non-binding LNG supply deals, seeking to start shipments from 2023. The imported fuel is designated for Taipower’s combined-cycle gas power project at Taichung, where unit 1 of 2 is scheduled to start up in early 2024.

Electricity consumption in the United States will continue to grow but at a slower pace than in recent years, the EIA forecasts, as global trade tension have an adverse effect on economic growth and reduce electricity demand from the manufacturing sector. Though net U.S. electricity output rose 4% last year to a record high of 4,178 million MWh, the EIA attributes this to a one-off weather related effect.

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) has agreed with NFEnergía, the local New Fortress Energy affiliate, to supply LNG and convert Units 5&6 of the San Juan power plant. The diesel-to-gas conversion of these two combined-cycle power units is expected to generate about $750 million in fuel cost savings.